Judge releases alleged Epstein farewell message: 'It's a real pleasure to be able to choose the time to say goodbye'

A US federal judge yesterday released a document described as a farewell message allegedly attributed to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which includes the sentence: "It's a real pleasure to be able to choose the time to say goodbye," Reuters reports today.

Epstein, a disgraced financier and accused human trafficker, was found dead in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019, and the death was officially ruled a suicide.

The handwritten note was allegedly found by his former prison cellmate, convicted murderer and former police officer Nicholas Tartaglione. Federal District Judge Kenneth Karas, who oversaw Tartaglione's case, released the note after a request from The New York Times, which reported on its existence last week.

Karas ruled that the memo qualifies as a court document subject to public access because it was filed in connection with Tartallione's criminal case. Tartallione is serving four consecutive life sentences for drug-related murders. Karas supervised that case.

The judge found no legal reason to keep the message sealed. However, he neither confirmed the authenticity of the message nor assessed its chain of custody. Instead, he considered these issues irrelevant to the decision to unseal it.

"Neither party has identified any competing circumstances that would justify sealing the message," the judge ruled.

The message, written on a yellow pad, was filed by attorney Tartallione, who was Epstein's roommate for about two weeks in July 2019 while they were both in prison.

"They interrogated me for months - THEY FOUND NOTHING!!! That's how the 15-year-old charges ended," the message says, according to a photo released in court records. "It's a real treat to be able to choose the time to say goodbye. What do you want me to do - start crying!! NO FUN - NO POINT!!"

Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida in 2008 to soliciting prostitution of minors, leading to a controversial plea deal and a short prison sentence. He was rearrested in July 2019 and charged with human trafficking, accusing him of recruiting and abusing underage girls in New York and Florida.

The note was first discovered in July 2019, after Epstein was found alive in his cell with marks on his neck in an incident that authorities later described as a suicide attempt. According to Tartallione's description, the note was hidden in a book in their shared cell. Epstein died a few weeks later, on August 10, 2019, in a separate incident that was also ruled a suicide.

Tartaglione mentioned the message in a podcast interview last year, but the issue became widely known after the Times reported on its existence last Thursday. The Times reported that the message was never seen by federal investigators and was not present in the millions of Epstein-related documents that the Justice Department has released in recent years.

In ruling on the unsealing, the judge dismissed privacy concerns, noting Epstein's death and the widespread public discussion of the alleged message.